Tuesday, October 06, 2015

parking violations in Bloomingdale no longer ticketed

Many people in Bloomingdale have reported out-of-state parking violations and parking enforcement requests to the DC 311 site. In some cases I've noticed the 311 Service Requests are CLOSED, but no real enforcement action being taken. Because the same violations keep being reported by multiple people with no avail, I reached out to the City Council to find out what the deal is for not enforcing parking restrictions in our neighborhood that already has parking issues for residents due to the flood construction currently being conducted. The following is the response received from Kenyon McDuffie's office . . . forwarding a response from DC Department of Public Works (DPW). Apparently this response received from DPW was enough to satisfy the Councilman's office.

Several neighbors on Thomas Street have been reporting out-of-State parking violations that have gone unticketed. The response from DPW was:

"Since the work [First Street Tunnel Project] started at the McMillian Water Treatment Plant there has been no enforcement in the Bloomingdale area north of Rhode Island Ave, NW. The 100 block of Thomas Street, NW is blocked off and you can only get to this location thru the alley. We will have the Parking Officer that have this area to respond check for the fire hydrant violation."

The residents of Bloomingdale know that is not true. Thomas Street has never been blocked from traffic. Why the parking officials will not ticket cars in Bloomingdale is going unanswered. And we demand answers.

In fact, a ticket was issued to one of the out-of-state vehicles being reported. While the car has been parked since Friday afternoon in front of a fire hydrant on Thomas, the ticket posted on the car windshield was $50 for "No Standing Anytime." Can someone please explain how blocking a fire hydrant for 5 days does not get multiple tickets for various offenses?